By Michael Lindsay
The DeKalb County Tigerettes (14-5-1) earned a key District 7-3A victory Thursday afternoon as they defeated White County (10-15) by a 10-0 margin in 6 innings.
“We played them at Sparta pretty tight, so we did some stuff earlier in the week to imitate their pitching,” said DeKalb County head coach Ethan Duke. “We got on them early and didn’t let up. We try to teach intensity from the first pitch to the last.”
Tigerette senior pitcher Kora Kilgore struck out 15 batters while allowing only 2 hits and 1 walk on 81 pitches in the win. Kilgore went 2-4 with 2 RBIs at the plate.
“Kora is an exceptional athlete and pitcher,” said Duke. “Our defense has to stay awake and make the plays they’re supposed to behind her.”
Center fielder Zayleigh Bain went 2-3 with a triple, a stolen base and 5 RBIs while Bryna Pelham went 4-4 with a double, a triple and 2 runs scored.
DeKalb County went to work early as a Bain triple to let field scored three runs to give the Tigerettes a 3-0 lead. DeKalb added a run in the bottom of the third via a Bain single to score Pelham, extending their advantage to 4-0.
The Tigerette offense went to work in the bottom of the fourth inning as they scored 5 runs in the frame. A double by Hannah Brown plated a run before she eventually came around and scored via error two batters later. Kilgore delivered a two-run single in the next at-bat to extend her team’s lead to 8-0 before a Bain ground-out scored a run to give DeKalb County a 9-0 lead after 4.
The Tigerettes walked off their run-rule victory in the bottom of the sixth as a Pelham single scored Chaylea Lunsford to give DeKalb County the 10-0 victory.
DeKalb County improves to 14-5-1 overall and 7-1 in District 7-3A play. The Tigerettes are currently the #1 overall seed with two games remaining.
“Every game is important,” said Duke. “We want to host the district tournament and continue the ride here at home. Each and every day there’s something new to work on and fix. The girls are in a good mindset and we know what we want to do.”
Up next for the Tigerettes is a home game against district foe Cumberland County on Monday followed by a trip to Upperman on Tuesday. DeKalb County will host two-time defending Class 1A state champion Gordonsville (20-1) on Thursday.
